By Suleiman Shehu
A London trained Security Consultant, Chief Williams Fadoju, says lack of adequate planning for the future and inadequate punishment for the offenders are responsible for rising cases of insecurity in Nigeria.
Fadoju, who had worked with the British Transport Police before returning to Nigeria, made the assertions in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the nation’s 62nd anniversary on Sunday in Ibadan.
According to him, insecurity is on the increase since there is no adequate punishment for offenders, by the previous administrations, to serve as deterrent to those willing to perpetrate crimes.
“Looking at Nigeria’s population of about 45.1 million in 1960, compared to her over 200 million population in 2022, 62 years after, the country should have been fully migrated into using technology to protect her citizens compare to using physical strength, if not for lack of planning,” he said.
Fadoju, also the Chief Executive Officer, Connect Security Services Ltd., Ibadan, said that lack of proper planning since 1960 independence, from successive governments, was responsible for increasing rate of insecurity in the country.
He said: “The blame of Nigeria’s insecurity should not be put on President Muhammadu-led administration, but the previous administrations, who failed to lay a template for securing the country technologically.
“I will, even give kudos to Buhari’s administration, because he has set the template for the development of the country’s infrastructure and security.”
The security consultant said that the current population of the security personnel in Nigeria, especially the police, could not effectively police the country without installation of CCTV cameras and other gadgets in strategic areas of the country.
This, he said, would assist the personnel in information gathering and sharing in order to nip crimes in the bud.
“In the United Kingdom, there is installation of CCTV and other electronic gadgets in almost all the streets and this made policing in that country easier.
“You cannot live in United Kingdom and the police will not gathered all information about you within a week.
“Nigeria needs to employ more security personnel and invest more in installation of technology and other electronic gadgets in streets in order to make policing easier and reduce the crimes rate in the country,” Fadoju said.
He said further that Nigeria has enough resources in the past to take care of its youths, but was mismanaged by some of the country’s past leaders.
According to him, they don’t have foresight to invest in infrastructure, education, they don’t have support for the citizens, among others, put the country in a template of progress for the future generation.
“Majority of those inducted into Boko Haram, kidnapping, banditry and armed robbery are those that lacked parental care, government supports, proper education and unemployed.
“Most Nigeria leaders don’t have the interest of the country at heart, but their personal interest.
“I will implore them to put the country’s interest at heart and create conducive environment for business to strive, support youths in order to take them away from crimes.
“Not all youths can go to school, we have a lot of areas where they can be used, empowered and make them to contribute positively to the development and growth of the country.
“Most youths venture into crimes, because they are unemployed and killing them is like killing the future of the country,” Fadoju said.
The security consultant called on Nigerians to unite, look back at the happenings in the past 62 years and be sincere with one another in order to move the country forward, irrespective of ethnic and religion.
Fadoju said Nigerians should believe that no individual or country could prosper without hard work and endurance.
Also, a legal practitioner, Mr Laolu Shyllon, said that Nigeria has not performed creditably well in terms of security base on the increasing number of kidnapping, banditry and other forms of security challenges facing it since independence.
Shyllon said the solution to the insecurity in Nigeria was to have state police and employ more people into the police force.
He said the creation of state police would enable each state to monitor the security situation in their locality, adding that the country would not continue to depend on the Federal Government police.
Shyllon said that the creation of state police and recruitment of more police personnel would help to improve the security and reduce insecurity in the country.(NAN)
